Over the past nearly two decades, along with my   current students,   post-doctoral fellows,   long-term associates and   former students and post-doctoral scholars, I have worked on millisecond pulsars, old neutron stars, young neutron stars, brown dwarfs, soft gamma-ray repeaters, supernova remnants, gamma-ray bursts and new types of optical transients. I love surfing the electromagnetic spectrum and building new gizmos. My current focus is the Palomar Transient Factory, an innovative two-telescope approach to a systematic study of the transient sky.

My publications can be found via ADS or Astroph. A CV and bibliography can be found above. Information to contact me can be found here .

During 2009-2010, my teaching schedule is as follows: (Fall) Ay122a [Techniques & Measurements]; (Winter) Ay122b [Techniques & Measurements]; and (Spring) Ay125 [High Energy Astrophysics]. I take keen interest in the academic life of the Astronomy graduate students and was until 2006 the Option Rep . I have been involved in graduate admissions.

I was born in the principality of Kurundwad (Maharashtra) and grew up in Hubli (Karnataka). I was lucky by being able to attending excellent institutions, having inspiring teachers and surrounded by a high quality peer group: Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central School), Hubli; the Indian Institute of Technoly, Delhi (MS) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD).

I hold a McArthur Professorhip in Astronomy & Planetary Science. In 2006 I assumed the position of Director of the Caltech Optical Observatories (which include Palomar, the W. M. Keck Observatory partnership and the Thirty Meter Telescope partnership). In 2007, Cornell University conferred on me the title of Andrew D. White Professor-at-large.

I have a life-long interest in interferometry. I am co-PI (with Mike Shao) on Extra-Solar Planet Interferometric Survey (EPICs), one of the key projects of the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) for extra-solar planets as well as the Interdisciplinary Scientist for SIM.

Over time I have drifted from radio astronomy to optical astronomy. I love using telescopes and am familiar with Arecibo Observatory, the Very Large Array, Parkes Observatory , Palomar Observatory, and Keck Observatory.

An important part of my academic life at Caltech are the Monday lunches . I meet my theory colleagues (usually Phinney, Ott, Hirata, Goldreich and occasionally Thorne) theory postdocs and students every Monday at 12 noon. We have a free wheeling discussion on recent results in literature and summaries of recent conferences.

Over the next five years I intend to focus on mini-satellites (less than 100 kg), inexpensive instrumentation for meter class telescopes (including adaptive optics) and innovative telescope design (small apertures). I welcome enquiries from hard working, independendent and passionate students.

• "1% inspiration + 99% sweat --> achievement" (ref: A. Einstein)
• "Learn one new idea every day". (SRK motto)
• "Given a sufficiently large telescope, a sufficiently idiotic astronomer can always make a discovery. (How to make astronomers feel insecure)